


Wild Magic: The Cutting Room Floor

by Artemisdesari



Series: Wild Magic and Gifts [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: A little Nori and Dwalin backstory, Deleted Scenes, Female Nori, Fili's PoV, Gandalf is a cock-blocking git, Gandalf is a meddling git, Kili is an adorable doofus, Kili's POV, Magic Hobbits, Multi, Rough Sex, Sex Talk, She's in a sharing mood, Thorin is a cock-blocking git, Threesome - F/M/M, alternative universe, magic dwarves, more tags to come, until he isn't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:47:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21606292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemisdesari/pseuds/Artemisdesari
Summary: Side fic to Wild Magic. All of the little bits and pieces that were taken out or changed due to flow or the fact that Wild Magic is all Billana's side of proceedings and I wanted to hear from the others.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Fíli/Kíli, Dwalin/Nori (Tolkien)
Series: Wild Magic and Gifts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557199
Comments: 158
Kudos: 200





	1. Revelations: the route not taken

**Author's Note:**

> For Jimiel, who encourages me far too much. This is why I cut it.
> 
> This is how Chapter Four would have gone after Billana took the boys their dinner.

The young dwarves are talking quietly when she enters, and the blond looks warily at her.

"I thought you might be hungry," she holds up the bowls and his face breaks into a blinding smile.

"Famished," he breathes, "healing always takes it out of me."

"Me too," she agrees, taking his reply as permission to move away from the door.

She hands the blond, and she will need to find out his name at some point, his bowl of stew and sits on the edge of the bed with the other, offering it to her former patient.

"You're smaller than I thought," he says. His voice is the same as that distant one she had heard earlier, he's also covered with a sheet and his companion rolls his eyes with a half-smile.

"Well, you're quite a bit bigger than you were," she tells him, and he grins.

"You're just as pretty though," he adds, ignoring the broth she offers him. "Prettier, even, now that I can see you properly. Your eyes are like amber, did you know that?" She glances at his friend who appears to be biting his lips to keep from laughing out loud. "And look at your _ears_! Look at her ears, Fi! They're like tiny little elf ears, but not bad because she's not an elf so uncle might let us keep her. Do you think we can keep her?"

" _Eat_ , Kili," his friend orders, "before you fall asleep in the dinner our gracious hostess has provided."

"Billana, Fili," Kili replies. "Her _name_ is _Billana_. It's very rude to come into a person's home and not introduce yourself."

"How did you know my name?" She asks, taking advantage of his momentary pause to shove a spoonful of liquid into his mouth. If he won't feed himself she will have to do it for him.

"You told me," he says after a few more mouthfuls, "when you were trying to help me. I don't remember everything you said, but I remember your name, and I remember that you were kind and you made me feel safe and that you're really pretty." He smirks. “I also remember that I saw you naked.” Colour flares in her cheeks and his companion, brother she remembers Gandalf saying, chokes on his dinner.

“Kili!” Fili admonishes with a chuckle once he has got himself under control. “And I wouldn’t be so smug about that if I were you. She’s seen you naked too.”

“That’s fine,” he replies with a wide smile. “She can look _all_ she wants. Just think of it, Fi, look at how pretty she is. Think of how amazing she would look between us.” She blinks and he leans forward a little. “I’d love to tangle my fingers in her hair, all those soft shiny curls to tug, and your _lips_ , Billana, they’re like rubies. But I’ll bet they’re as soft as rose petals. I should find out, or Fili could try it. We _both_ could. We’re good at sharing. I don’t know if I could stop, though, once I’d kissed you, I mean. And I don’t think that your lips are the only soft part of you either, and your mouth wouldn’t be the only place that’s warm and wet for me. For _us_. I wonder what sounds would come out of it, I wonder if I could make you scream.” His eyes are dark as they stare into hers, but they seem to burn as well, and she dimly feels someone take the almost forgotten bowl out of her hands. She should leave, but she can't seem to make herself move.

“Uncle wouldn’t like that,” Fili points out and Kili’s smile changes, becomes something that she doesn’t have a name for.

“We could ask my brother to join us,” he continues, as though he hasn’t noticed Fili’s interruption. “Did I mention that we’re good at sharing? We could do it you know, make you scream with my cock in your cunt and his in your mouth, or your ass, or the other way around. We would fill you over and over, make you cum so many times that that you wouldn’t know which way was up and you would still beg us for more. You’re tiny, but I bet you could take us both.” He’s close to her, so close that there is barely anything between them and he touches her cheek with his hand, running his thumb over her bottom lip, words still falling out of his mouth. “You’d look beautiful with your mouth around my cock, writhing over my brother’s face while he puts his tongue and lips to work, while he spreads you until you beg us both to fuck you over and over. You’d be ours forever then, wouldn’t you?”

She whimpers, feeling his other hand come to rest on her hip and wondering when he had moved to kneel in front of her, the sheet pooled in front of him and leaving nothing to the imagination.

“You’d never leave, and I could spend the rest of my life lost in you, lying between your thighs to taste you and smell you.” His voice grows impossibly deeper, darker, it makes something pool inside her that she doesn’t fully understand. “Watching you take my brother’s cock and loving it, then having _him_ watch _us_. Seeing our marks on you and our braids in your hair. Finding all the little things that would drive you crazy with want for us. The touches that would make you gasp and the ones to make you cry out. We would find it _all_. We would take you over and over until we don’t know where we end and you begin.”

She gasps, the bed dips behind her another hand brushes her curls away from her shoulder to expose skin that hasn’t been covered by her over large shirt. She arches into the touch, sees something like excitement pass over Kili’s faces as her eyes slip closed at the sensation of a beard brushing lightly there.

“You wouldn’t resist if I kissed you now, you _want_ it, I can see that you do. Fili wouldn’t stop us either. He wants it too. We could lock the door, I could order him to do it and he would because look at him, look at how badly he wants to take you.” She obeys, turning her head to look. Fili hovers just behind her, fingers dancing over her skin, pushing lightly at fabric so that one shoulder is bared. His eyes are dark with arousal as he looks at her and listens to his brother speak. “He wants to see you just like I did, he wants the same image burnt into his mind of you bare to our eyes and _glorious_. We’ll make you ours if you let us. We’ll keep you and your body will _sing_ for us.”

She whines, a soft gasp slips out filled with words that she cannot identify as Kili’s hand drifts up under her shirt and he begins to rub small circles into her skin.

“Would you let us?” He breathes as his other hand leaves her face to find the opening over her shirt.

“Shall we see?” Fili purrs. “Shall we see what she does, brother?”

He tangles his fingers into her hair, turns her head so that he can lean closer to her. His breath ghosts over her lips as he hovers there for a heartbeat, waiting for what she does not know, and she knows she should leave. Kili’s fingers slip inside her shirt, skim over the skin of her breast and Fili seals his lips over hers and steals her quiet cry as he does it. He pushes against her, his brother’s lips find the side of her neck and she feels like she’s burning. Then Fili stops kissing her, shifts enough so that his lips can follow the same path down the opposite side of her neck from the one that has his brother’s attention. She begins to think she might die if they stop, heat pooling deep inside her in a way that she has never truly experienced before.

Her ears twitch, registering a new sound over the sound of their breathing and the pounding of her heart.

“Footsteps,” the word slips out, the dwarves withdraw, she makes a broken sound of loss and the door opens.

“Billana, my dear, would you join us for a moment?” Gandalf asks.


	2. What the Raven Saw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili's pov of chapter 2 through to the beginning of 4 of the main fic

It is, Kili thinks, a magnificent day for flying. He doesn’t get to do this nearly often enough and though learning to become a raven had been awkward and occasionally painful, he never regrets the effort it took when he is soaring over the countryside far more quickly than he could achieve riding a pony.

He’s so busy enjoying himself, much as he dislikes the _reason_ he is able to do so, that he misses the orcs below him until an arrow soars past his beak. He swears viciously, an impressive array of sounds, that are not at all like the words he is trying to say, emerging as he twists and claws at the air to avoid a second. He has no idea _why_ they are shooting at him, most likely they are in search of dinner unless they think he is a messenger for his people, but he has no interest in taking the risk involved with finding out either. He isn’t far from the Shire, and he already knows there are rangers in the area, so if he can make it there, he should be safe. Unless, of course, Gandalf’s burglar in not as trustworthy as the wizard thinks and she has betrayed them.

The moment of thought costs him and he doesn’t quite turn quickly enough. An arrow grazes his wing, not enough to do any real damage but fire erupts from the wound all the same and his gift, a tingling spark that bubbles constantly against his barriers, vanishes. He is locked in this form, unable to touch that which would allow him to end the spell. It is agony, every time he tries to touch it pain flares through him until his only thought is the mission Thorin gave him.

Find Billana Baggins and discover what kind of hobbit she is.

By the time he is in the Shire he knows that the arrow had some kind of poison on it, he can feel it tearing through his mind and coherent thought becomes nearly impossible. All he can focus on is getting to the Shire and finding Billana Baggins, even though he is quickly forgetting _why_ that is important at all.

He doesn’t so much land in the hedge, he simply falls from the sky as he passes over it and is fortunate enough that it catches him so that he isn’t injured any more than he already is. In his mind he is screaming for his mother, his uncle and his brother. He is calling for them to help him, to come for him. He has no idea where he is, barely really knows who he is, and his mind is full of mist and haze. His wing burns, his heart races and almost fails entirely when a youthful face surrounded by a mass of chestnut curls appears in his field of vision. He follows his instincts, lashing out with beak and wings and screaming in agony when the fire becomes an inferno.

The owner of the face grumbles at him, pulling from the prison of branches as carefully as she can, and the pain is too much. He loses consciousness and his last thought is to hope that this nightmare will be over when he wakes.

It isn’t.

He wakes lying on a bed, groaning in pain as she examines his injured wing and vaguely dismayed to realise that he is still in his bird form. He watches her, sees the kindness in amber eyes and hears the soothing noises she makes as she works. Then she takes a breath, and something touches him. It feels like magic, creates the same tingle in his skin that Fili’s does when he is healing, except it is like no gift he has ever come across. For a moment the barrier of poison around his gift shifts. As soon as his gift is loose, however, the gentle tingle of her magic feels like the stab of a thousand knives and he shrieks even as his gift pushes her magic away from him. They repeat this process three more times before she decides to try a different way and he isn’t sure whether he is relieved or frightened. His uncertainty means that he fights her until it becomes clear that she is genuinely trying to help him, and he stills.

Over the next few days she talks to him while changing his bandages and trying to use her strange magic on him again. Sometimes he can feel it working, feels it breaking through the poison that has locked his gift away from him and he gets so close to being able to touch his magic that he can feel the ability to change back within his grasp. As soon as the cracks appear, however, the tiny bit of his gift that touches her strange magic lashes back at them both and he ends up feeling worse that he did before she started trying to help him. If she even _is_ trying to help him. The longer this continues the more he begins to wonder about her motives.

Yet she continues to bandage his wound and attempts to burn out the poison even though she seems to know that it will not work. She grows increasingly frustrated and he hears her ask, more than once, why she cannot help him. He hears her wonder what makes him so strange and he wishes he could tell her. The few nights he is with her are spent in her bed, with her body wrapped around his raven form for warm and, possibly, comfort. His mind and certainty of what is real and what isn’t are slipping away. He finds himself trying to far speak with his uncle or mother or brother, with anyone who loves him and cares for him at all. He realises that he is dying before she does.

He doesn’t want to die alone.

He tries to escape more than once. To just hop his way out of her strange underground house and into the light of day. His addled mind tells him that if he can make it into daylight, he will find his family waiting for him. She, Billana, always brings him back, feeds him a rich mix of honey and milk, raw meat and fruits. Anything she can find to keep his strength up, strength he has spent in futile attempts to escape the hands of his increasingly desperate healer.

It is in one of his few lucid moments that she disrobes before him, baring herself to his eyes though she has no idea that his gaze is not the dispassionate one of a bird. She is pretty, he thinks, perhaps even beautiful, but then he remembers himself and turns his gaze away. He should not look, should not feast his eyes on her form when she has no idea what she has shown him. Billana laughs and sits next to him, uncaring about her nudity when she believes him nothing more than a raven. She laughingly calls him a funny, polite thing and runs her fingers through his feathers in a way that has become comforting and that comfort is something he craves while he is so far from his family.

That is his last lucid moment. As soon as she is gone the poison, dormant for those few blissful minutes, resurges and with his strength worn so thin he succumbs to it. He has nothing left to give, his uncle will hear the news eventually, will come to the hobbit to meet Gandalf and the rest and Kili can only hope that he will not blame Billana for what has happened. She has done her best and even her desperate attempts to keep him alive throughout the night can’t help him now. He wants to tell her to give it up, to let him go, to run and save herself because Thorin is rarely completely reasonable when he is angry and will be incapable of it in grief.

He drifts, consciousness and freedom from pain a happy memory that seems like an impossible dream. In his mind he is screaming. He doesn’t want to die; he doesn’t want to leave his mother and his brother and his uncle. He has so much that he wanted to do still, so much he wanted to achieve, ancient spells lost in the depths of Erebor and Khazad-dum that he wanted to find and see if he could master. He wanted to come out of the shadows. He can’t, even when he feels familiar golden love fill him, even when the poison barrier cracks, and his gift reaches his barely conscious mind. He can do nothing more than call out, trapped in his own head as his thoughts scream out to Fili, to his Amad, to Thorin. They don’t answer, not directly, their voices a distant and grieving memory. Until:

- _ Kili?  _ – Billana’s mind touches his in a way she should not be able to. - _ Kili, it's safe to come back. Your friends have come for you. Come back, Kili- _

_ They have come, Thorin and Fili are here, and the sense of their presence is not a distant and desperate dream. He embraces it, feels his body shift, and knows no more. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is it with me and being mean?


	3. Leaving the Shire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting into Kili's head for the events at the end of chapter 7 and beginning of chapter 8.

Kili can’t help but feel for Billana. She’s leaving her home, after all, and no matter how much she insists that he wants to find a home elsewhere he isn’t entirely sure that he believes her. This is the land of her birth and her childhood and, from his own experience, she _will_ feel the pain of leaving it. The quest may be about reclaiming Erebor, but that is the home of the previous generation, of his uncle and mother, of Balin and Oin and Dori. Fili and Kili weren’t born there, nor were Bofur and Bifur and Bomber, though he has not idea about the rest of them. Kili and his brother were born and raised in Ered Luin and their longing for the Lonely Mountain is not for themselves, for they already miss and long for the mountains of their birth. It is for the well-being and prosperity of their people and the memory of their ancestors that they have decided to attempt the impossible.

Billana _will_ miss the Shire, he thinks, because it is her home.

That opinion changes during the confrontation with the hobbit Billana calls ‘Aunt’. The hobbit who flings all manner of accusations at a girl that Kili _knows_ deserves nothing but gentle words and love. No matter what _this_ hobbit implies, however, the Company would _never_ turn their backs on Billana should she fall with child. Babes are a treasure of far greater worth than silver or gold, after all, and it would be a sign of _his_ failure as her protector, never mind _Fili’s_ as a healer, to fail to keep her from those who might take advantage of her.

Only the fact that he has barely regained even the most _basic_ grasp of his gift keeps him from lashing out at the hobbit, keeps him from touching his magic and doing something to the sneering creature that could be deemed unforgivable. Still, he doesn’t _need_ magic to _hurt_ the she-hobbit, he has a perfectly good sword, and while Fili is doing a good job of keeping Billana physically safe and looks more menacing that Kili has seen him outside of battle, it doesn’t feel sufficient.

It is only the need to keep a handle on his temper that keeps Kili silent, has him focussed on his breathing and not ripping trees from the ground with his bare hands. He won’t _need_ to use his gift, he thinks, because he is angry enough at the moment to have all the strength he needs.

His anger doesn’t ease during the day. Billana is quiet and withdrawn and when she _does_ speak to the others it is nothing like as brightly as the hobbit in the hazy memories from his time as a raven in her care. Nor, even, like the one he had spent the previous day with. His pony skitters as he tenses again and he forces himself to relax, aware that the others are beginning to notice and wonder over his mood. With nothing to really distract him, however, and Billana having withdrawn to Gandalf’s company, his mood doesn’t improve and by the time camp is made even the others are avoiding him.

“With me, _now_ ,” Fili mutters to him from his seat at Kili’s side. Kili shrugs his brother off. “It’s me or Thorin, Ki,” his brother hisses. “and neither of us are inclined to tolerate your refusal.”

He huffs and gets to his feet, following Fili so that they are out of earshot but not surprised when Fili places a listening spell around them anyway.

“What’s got you so worked up?” Fili asks.

“How can you even _ask_ that?” He demands. “You saw the way they treated her! You heard what that hobbit said!”

“I heard it,” Fili confirms.

“Then _how_ are you so calm about it?” He snarls. “How can you laugh and joke and _not_ want to go back there and tear them apart?”

“Would that change their opinion of her?” Fili asks. “You and I both know it would make things far worse for her than they are now.”

“I promised I would protect her,” Kili hisses. “How can I _hope_ to do that when I can’t even keep her safe in _this_ quiet place?”

“Because the world out there is _not_ this place,” Fili replies. “I made the same promise, brother, why are you taking it so much to heart?”

“Because she doesn’t _deserve_ that,” Kili snaps. “She didn’t deserve any of it! She took me in, even when it looked certain that I was going to die, and she cared for me. She gave _everything_ to try and save me, even though she had no idea what I was! she treated me like I was family. Billana was love and kindness and hope and for a little while she helped me to forget how terrified I was.”

“You told me you hardly remembered your time with her,” Fili points out.

“I remember _that_ ,” he spits. “And it’s enough. I remember it every time I look at her. Her innocence and her hope and her desperation to save me even when it looked hopeless helped to keep me _alive_ , Fili, and she doesn’t deserve the way that they treated her. I won’t let her come back to it.”

“If you try to dictate her life to her it will make you no better than the hobbits we’re helping her to escape from.” Fili’s reasonable tone does nothing to lessen the rage he is still struggling with.

“She’s _not_ going back,” Kili growls.

“I agree, but it has to be _her_ decision, nadad, not yours and not mine,” Fili sighs. “It’s going to be _months_ until this becomes a consideration. We haven’t even _left_ yet. Worry about it when the time comes. In the meantime, I suggest you stop acting like someone dropped a mountain on your head, Uncle is bad enough.”

Kili deflates. His brother is right, as he often is, but that still doesn’t mean that he has to accept what he saw today as a part of Billana’s future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this written up to type almost ten minutes after I finished writing chapter 7, but hadn't gotten around to posting until now. Looking at it, though, I think it might go a little way to explaining some of Kili's reaction to Elrohir at the end of chapter 16 as well.


	4. To Force An Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set at the beginning of chapter 10, after the little archery competition.

When Fili is woken by his uncle's shattering bellow the morning after the impromptu archery competition, he knows that he and Kili are in trouble. He had known it, in fact, as soon as Kili reminded him that he had failed to be completely clear on the nature of the prize for the winner. The terms of these little matches, and those of the prize, are familiar to them, an old game that he and Kili have played for years in Ered Luin. It's one that many dwarves their age indulge in and enjoy, one that the pair of them are notorious for playing very well and always to the advantage of all three participants.

Fili should, of course, have taken into account how competitive Kili gets when he has an audience and the innocence of their opponent.

He expects it, therefore, when Thorin holds them back as the others ride off. He waits for them all to move ahead before switching to Khuzdul to deliver his rebuke. Many assume that such a thing from Thorin would be conducted at volume, and indeed when delivered instantly it quite often is. When left to stew on the matter, however, it will be given in a low voice that seems to curdle the blood. 

"What were you _thinking_?" Thorin growls. Kili shifts in his saddle but doesn't open his mouth to reply, just as aware as Fili that Thorin doesn't actually want them to answer. "I specifically told you that you weren't to play these games on the road, and most particularly where the hobbit is concerned. It is bad enough that you play them in the Blue Mountains and that tales of your- _exploits_ are told in nearly every tavern. I do not want them interfering in this quest."

"It was just a _game,_ Uncle," Kili replies sullenly. "It didn't _mean_ anything." He pulls the kind of face that shows he regrets the words as soon as he has uttered them.

"Did either of you think of Mistress Baggins in this?" Thorin demands.

"Did _you_?" Fili asks in return, rather than give an answer that will rouse his uncle's ire all the more. "You were as amused as everyone else when you announced that it had ended in a tie. You had to know what the outcome would be."

"I thought that your _brother_ would have the good sense to _bow out_!" Thorin snaps in reply. "I didn't believe he would twist it to his own gain."

"You know me better than that, Uncle," Kili mumbles. "You and Balin _both_ taught me to look for the openings that others leave us and take advantage of them. You know it would have raised questions if I had refused to claim my winnings."

"Better questions that humiliating a member of our Company," Thorin replies. "You will apologise," he informs them both. Kili sits straighter in his saddle, his objections clear on his face. "Neither of you thought to check if the hobbit was happy with the terms or even fully aware of them. Fili, at least, kept it short and respectful, but _you_ , Kili," Thorin sighs. "When will you learnt that you do not always need to compete with your brother?"

Kili hunches into himself and Fili bristles at his uncle's unfairness. Kili's struggles with his own self worth are Thorin's fault after all. It had been clear from an early age that both boys had powerful gifts. Neither had been encouraged to display their abilities until it became clear that Kili far surpassed any tutor available to them and any mage that had lived among dwarves for the last three centuries. Thorin had immediately decided that such a powerful gift could be turned to their advantage if kept quiet enough. Fili's abilities, therefore, even though they lay primarily with healing and shielding spells, were quickly made public and put on display as frequently as possible. Kili had been restricted to the shadows, permitted to perform little more than parlour tricks and light shows outside of his lessons with Balin. More than once his brother has been declared weak and useless for his apparent lack of gift and that has caused him to push to be seen as _better_ than Fili at any number of things any time he gets the opportunity. That competitive streak still, occasionally, gets the better of him even though he has proved himself to the dwarves of Ered Luin in any number of other ways over the years.

Kili catches his eye and shakes his head. One day Fili will lose patience with the shadowy world and role that Thorin has pushed Kili into. One day he will make it clear to Thorin just how much of Kili's need to prove himself to others is down to the constant restrictions placed upon him. Today, however, Fili will respect his brother's wishes and hold his tongue.

"We'll apologise, Uncle," he growls. Thorin arches an eyebrow and nods, satisfied.

Fili cannot help but notice, however, that both his and Kili's ponies are perfectly behaved. So, he will make his apology and tolerate the rebuke, but he will not regret that he kissed Billana. He finds himself rather curious to see if she would be willing to permit it to happen again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have had this up a while ago, but wanted to hold on to it for a little bit while I worked through some stuff in the main story


	5. Relief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taken from the end of Chapter 11 and beginning of chapter 12, post the whole trolls incident. This one gets a little bit steamy folks

Billana wriggles back against his brother, her amber eyes seeming to shine in the pale glow of the mage light as she looks at him. He had thought her dead, seen her fall and land in a lifeless heap at the troll’s feet and hadn’t been able to do a thing about it. Relief to find her alive had hit him so hard it had almost hurt, and he can clearly remember burying his face into her soft fur to steady himself. She blinks, languid and warm, watching him with a tiny smile as he moves away from her.

“You need to get dressed if you don’t want the others to ask questions,” Fili tells her, because obviously she has kept this secret for a reason, and it isn’t his place to expose her.

“I don’t want to get dressed,” she grins and stretches, causing the coat Fili had closed over her to slide open a little. His eyes drift down to the freshly exposed skin and he feels his breath catch now that he isn’t looking at her with the eyes of a healer. “I don’t mind,” she says when he averts his gaze quickly, “you’ve seen me anyway so you may as well take a proper look.” Kili chuckles behind her, his hands moving to the edges of the coat and she covers them with hers.

“Billana,” Fili whispers, giving his brother a warning glare.

Kili grins unrepentantly and it widens as she moves his hands to open Fili’s coat and fully bare her torso. She keeps her hands over his, guiding one up towards her breast and arching into the touch. Kili doesn’t pull away, just turns his attention from his brother and onto the hobbit leaning against him.

“This isn’t the healing,” she insists, though this kind of behaviour isn’t unheard of. “I want-” her breath catches as Kili traces one nipple, wrapping his other arm about her waist so that he can pull her more tightly against him. “I don’t know what I want, but sometimes it’s you and sometimes it’s Kili and sometimes it’s both of you. I don’t understand, and I want to. I want to know.” His brother looks at him, his dark eyes impossibly black in the mage light and his expression a challenge. “Please, Fili,” she gasps.

He isn’t sure if it is the dare behind Kili’s smirk or the soft plea from Billana’s own lips, he only knows that his self-control melts at the expressions on both their faces and he leans forward, sealing his lips over hers. She reaches to tangle her fingers in his hair, grabbing one of his braids and tugging him closer insistently and he hears his brother’s voice as a low rumble nearby. He can imagine the things that Kili is saying, the promises that he is making. The two of them have played this game together before, perhaps more often than they should have, and he knows how this goes. Kili’s hands are as busy as his tongue, one gently toying with a breast as the other slides down her soft stomach and into the waist of her trousers. She mewls against Fili’s lips when his brother touches her, her hand tightening in his hair and he grins into the kiss, his own hands following his brother’s. She lifts her hips when he nudges her, moving so that he can remove her trousers and undergarments in one go, leaving her bare before him. He breaks the kiss as he does so, leaning back so that he can look at her.

Billana’s skin is pale in the mage light, flawless but for a couple of scars that curve around the sides of her abdomen. She can’t seem to decide whether to spread her legs or clamp them closed around Kili’s hand as his brother teases her lazily.

“You’ll sing for us, Billana,” he hears Kili promise, “trust us. You should see what we see, how magnificent you look spread for us like this in leather and fur. My hand feels good, doesn’t it? Open up for me, let me feel you properly, let me show you how it’s _meant_ to feel. It can be so much better.”

Fili’s trousers are almost painfully tight, and he reaches to untie the lacings, noticing how Kili shifts a little behind the hobbit with a smirk. His brother’s mouth always races the more into the moment he gets, a continuous purr that _should_ distract but that somehow seems to work. Fili leans in again, pressing his lips to Billana’s once more, his hand going to her neglected breast. The sensations must be overwhelming her, but Kili isn’t wrong when he says that she looks incredible and sounds even better, her soft cries stolen by the heat of their kiss as she arches into the touches, Fili’s rough pinches a direct contrast to the teasing flick of Kili’s fingers.

Kili’s hands still abruptly and Fili withdraws in the same moment.

“Please,” she gasps, “please, I don’t- I can’t- _please_.”

“Please?” Kili whispers, his lips close to her ear, his hands withdrawing to her hips and leaving the path free for Fili to kiss his way down her body.

Billana quivers under him, a breathless cry leaving her as his lips find her sensitive bud. He licks and nips and suckles, feeling her quake and tapping his brother’s leg as her gasps and mewls increase in volume. Her hand twists into his hair so tightly that it almost hurts as he presses one finger inside her, finding her hot and wet and she screams, the sound muffled by his brother’s lips as she clamps down around him. He waits, easing her carefully through the waves of her pleasure until she starts to shift against him, a litany of pleas falling from her mouth and he looks up to see that Kili has his lips at her neck.

Billana is flushed, her extraordinary eyes wide and unfocused as she shifts, seeking something she doesn’t seem to be able to put a name to. Fili moves, shedding his tunic and trousers as she watches with lidded eyes, as she tangles her fingers into Kili’s hair while his brother nips at the soft skin of her shoulders and sinks his fingers into her over and over. He watches her reach her peak again as he strokes himself, then bats Kili’s hand out of the way and lifts her hips, his eyes closing as he finally sinks into her heat.

“Fili!” She cries, but it isn’t her voice and the tone is wrong and his eyes pop open.

He is lying on his stomach on the ground, the glow of his uncle’s gift dancing at the corner of his vision as Thorin tries to contact him. He groans and takes a moment to get himself back under control. This isn’t the first time he has had such a dream, nor will it be the last, but it is one that should not have happened and that cannot happen again. Billana is innocent, she deserves better than to star in his dreams because he is frustrated and it has been too long since he had a moment to himself. He takes a deep breath, grousing when Thorin barks his name again, and he calls on his gift so that he can answer. It is going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing, no excuses. It just is. *hides face*


	6. Nori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once there was a time when Nori could have been considered a 'good girl'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going back in time a little bit for this one. If I only knew why I write these things. Oh, wait, I do. You all encourage me.

Once there was a time, according to Dori, when Nori could have been considered a 'good girl'. This time has, in all honesty, been lost to all but her older brother's memory and Nori is glad of it. She laughs breathlessly as she scrambles over a wall, deliberately clumsy, and looks over her shoulder at the large guard following her. She can't imagine having quite so much fun if she had remained a nice, good girl, no matter how much Dori might mourn for it. She has been watching this guard for the better part of two week, patience being a very great virtue in her line of work, and she has learnt his routine, the streets he walks and the ones he doesn't, the times when he will be alone and far from one of his fellow watchmen. She has learnt his name and his rank, she has watched him in the bath house and the training rooms and the taproom. Until this chase he hadn't seen her. It's easy to become someone else when you dress as Nori does.

"You were a beautiful child," Dori will mourn as he looks at the many layers of clothes that Nori wears.

Nori is a slight thing, by dwarf standards at least, which makes her all the better at her job. Layer upon layer of tunics and undershirts make her appear bulkier than she is, styling her hair and beard into large peaks makes her seem taller and broader still. It makes it easier to hide when she decides to follow Dori's example of sleek sophisticated braids, when she decides to wear skirts and flounce through the town asthough she hasn't a thought in her head. It makes it easy to track someone when one day she looks like a dam a decade younger than she is and another she has all the appearance of an old dwarf gone to fat rather than muscle. This guard might have noticed any one of the personalities she dons to scope out a mark, but he has never seen the peaked thief so many of his compatriots talk about with frustration and curses.

Not until tonight, anyway.

As it is, Nori hasn't actually stolen anything today, not even a pocket picked even if Dori thinks she can't help herself. Being caught stealing something isn't the point of this chase, she could have done if he hadn't taken off after her when she had run at the sight of him like some young thieves she has known, but it hadn't been necessary. He has heard the stories, she had run at the sight of him and he had come after exactly as she had hoped. Nori likes it when a plan comes together like this, even if it means that Varik will be unhappy that she's been playing games again. She'll give him the same excuse she always does; distant fantasies only go so far, sometimes she just needs to sample the real thing.

"Oh, no, a wall that's too high," she gasps sarcastically as she rounds a corner into a secluded alley and halts. "What ever will I do?" She grins.

"I'll tell you what you can do," her pursuer replies and his large hand closes around her arm, "you can come with me."

She turns to look at him, still smiling. Dwalin, son of Fundin, is perhaps two decades older than she is, though he looks like he could be more than that, and he is everything that tends to catch her eye. Large, muscular, with a brutish appearing exterior that seems to intimidate most lesser dwarves. She has very definite ideas about the games she could play with him and the fun that they could both have. She also knows that getting him onto the same page as her will be a lot harder to do than it looks. Dwalin, she has discovered, is one of the decent ones. She tugs against his grip experimentally, he has a firm hold on her, not enough to bruise but just enough to bite, and she has to clamp down on a groan from that thought alone. Instead, she turns to look at him with wide green eyes, biting her lower lip just a little and she sees him blink in surprise.

"Are you sure there isn't something I can do to change your mind?" She asks breathlessly.

As attractive as she finds him, if he gives in to her now she'll walk away. She knows his reputation, she wants the challenge of breaking his resolve, not batting her eyelids and getting everything she wants right away. To her delight he scowls, spinning her so that he can push her back against the wall and pin her in place. He looms over her, though he doesn't seem to realise just how much he does so, glaring at her while her nimble fingers pluck a dagger from his belt, one that she knows he treasures. She smiles up at him, watching the way he examines her even as he growls.

"That won't work with me."

"I know," she replies, "can't blame a thief for trying."

She keeps her voice steady, feels his hand relax and shift just enough that she can break free. It doesn't take much to do it really, a quick twist and a small shove, she inherited the same strength as her brother after all, and she's dancing out from under his arms. He grabs for her and she ducks, effortlessly dodging him and far more gracefully than she had led him to believe she would be. Nori is accustomed to these sorts of fights, the ones where she and her opponent use fists and feet rather than weapons. Dwalin isn't. It doesn't take much for her to get him onto his back, to straddle his hips as he lies gasping on the damp stone beneath them. She grinds herself against him, just once, and feels him stir as his eyes widen minutely. Her grin is almost feral, he might not want to admit that he's enjoying this, but he evidently is and she'll have to remember this. For the moment, however, she leans down and presses her lips to his, stealing a kiss. He shifts beneath her, his lips begin to move in response to hers, and she moves away, flipping back and leaping over the wall that had seemed like a barrier only minutes before. In the alley she hears him curse, and she ducks into one of the nearby houses flipping his dagger as she does so.

Dori is not amused.

True to her thoughts during the chase, however, distant fantasies and a little taste only go so far. Within a couple of days Nori has tracked Dwalin down again, this time on the other side of his usual route although it is just as isolated. He doesn't spot her straight away, she keeps to the shadows and watches to make sure that he is alone. Fortunately for her, he is and she leans against a wall and whistles sharply, flipping his knife in the air when he turns to look at her and she sees him track its movement.

"You," he snarls, stalking towards her with the most deliciously furious expression on his face. She ducks out of his way. "Give that _back_!" He demands.

"What do I get if I do?" She asks with a smirk.

"I won't kill you," he replies.

"That's no fun," she pouts. "I'll give it back if you catch me."

"I've caught you once," he reminds her.

"I let you," she corrects. "Shall we make it a little bit harder this time?"

He snarls as he makes a grab for her, coming close enough to graze against her coat and she laughs as she darts out of his way. He doesn't catch her that night, or the one after, but Nori knows how to keep him interested; letting him get just close enough before finding a place that he cannot follow her and departing. She discovers on the third night, however, that he learns far more rapidly than she had dared to hope and just before she can flip out of his reach and be on her way he manages to grab her. Once again she finds herself pressed with her back against a wall and Dwalin looking down at her. His hands grip both of her arms this time and she is almost certain that there will be bruises. She squirms against him, breath coming in short pants as she meets his eyes boldly. He looks baffled at the reaction, likely expecting something entirely different and _not_ the breathless smile that covers her face.

"I knew you could do it," she whispers.

"Give it back," he orders.

"You'll have to let go of me to search me," she says, "who knows what I might steal this time."

As she had hoped, that gets him to press his body completely against hers, pinning her in place quite nicely but not the most effective way to search a captive. She feels so small like this, delicate and breakable even through her lays of clothing, and though he has a firm grip on her upper arms she has just enough movement to reach and palm him through his trousers. Just as she had hoped, he is apparently as into this as she is. He rocks into her hand without thinking and she smiles again, fingers drifting to his laces.

"Don't," he snarls. She pauses, feeling disappointment flood her.

"Why?" She demands. "You want me, and do you really think I'd have gone to all this trouble if I didn't want you?" He glares at her and she rubs him again, feeling the size and weight of his cock and contemplating the possibility of falling to her knees so that she can take him into her mouth. He'd probably run before she got the chance and she shifts her focus back to his laces, challenging him to stop her. "Or maybe that's it," she says when he doesn't move. "Maybe you've got no idea what to do with it. All the promise and no ability to make good on it." He snarls at her again, but doesn't tell her to stop and her hand slides into his trousers. "Such a waste," she breathes.

"I'd break you in two," he gasps when she runs her thumb over the head of his cock.

"Prove it," she replies and for a moment she wonders if she has misjudged.

Then his lips cover hers and it is every bit as rough and demanding and _glorious_ as she had hoped it would be. His grip on her arms shifts, pulling them so that he can hold her slender wrists above her head in one of his large hands. The other goes to her belt, finding the dagger that she had taken and he pulls back as he removes it.

"Mine," he hisses, and she worries that he will pull away entirely, that their game is done and she will have to break free before he can take her to the cells. She wriggles against him, hips brushing against his and his eyes go darker still. Dwalin tucks the dagger away, and she could have it back off him in a moment if she wanted to, but right now she's more interested in seeing if he will make good on the promise of that kiss. "Let's see what _else_ you've got hidden down here shall we?" Dwalin growls and she bites back a whimper as his hand goes to her belt, undoing it and all but tearing the laces of her trousers open.

He makes a surprised sound when he dips his hand inside, dragging a finger through her folds and finding her wet and desperate for him. He grins, which isn't quite the reaction she had expected, flicking his finger over her pearl teasingly, deliberately keeping his touch too light to do much more than make her catch her breath as she desperately tries to seek friction against his hand. As soon as she shifts, however, he pulls his hand away and she whines in frustration. He still has her hands pinned above her head and she waits to see what he will do next, glaring at him defiantly and reissuing her challenge when it seems like he might pull away. He hisses, he has what he wanted, she knows, so there is no reason for him to continue this, but he claims her mouth again with his, silencing her frustrated words as he kisses her almost punishingly. She revels in it, pressing up against him as he forces her trousers down and she silently thrills at the fact that she had decided to wear her light leather half boots instead of the normal steel capped ones her people favour as she kicks them off so that she can get a leg free.

It doesn't take much for her to wrap her legs about his waist, there's a reason she's so good at evading the guards after all, and she tugs lightly at his grip on her wrists, feeling his answering growl rumble through her. She whines, using her legs to pull him more tightly against her, seeking something, anything, hips lifting and shifting. He stills them with his free hand, then reaches to free himself properly. He's pressed against her and she wonders if he will hesitate, he wouldn't be the first, but he doesn't. He swallows her cry as he fills her and she relishes in the stretch and burn, just the right side of painful and exactly what she enjoys. The pace he sets is brutal, his other hand coming back up to join the one holding her wrists as he drives into her, pressing her against the wall hard enough for her to feel the bite of stone against her shoulders and his mouth muffling her cries as she feels her peak approaching far more rapidly than she had expected.

Nori tumbles over with a shriek that not even Dwalin's hard kiss can silence, dragging him with her. He slumps against her, pinning her in place as they catch their breath and the only thought that she can entertain in the moment is that she will have to do this again.

"Get dressed," he rasps. "I'm taking you in."

"That isn't how this is supposed to go," she reminds him, pulling herself together quickly.

"Not nice when others don't play by the rules, is it?" He asks and she laughs, wrapping her old belt about his wrists tightly as he reties the laces on his trousers and pulling it tight. He curses loudly at her and she knows that the old leather won't hold up against him for long.

"Until next time," she promises, scaling the side of the house he had taken her against and running across the roof, ignoring the way that her legs burn and her body aches.

She will _definitely_ be doing this again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, people liked girl Nori in the main fic. I was actually surprised by that. Nori took that as permission to start sharing stories and this was the one she gave me. I have a horrible feeling there is a whole other fic buried in this one somewhere and I don't have time for it right now. Actually, I know there is a whole other fic buried in this one as part of this 'verse because bits and pieces have been wandering through my head all night.


	7. Young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili's reaction to learning that Billana is not yet of age

Kili isn't actually sure _which_ of the events of the last two days have affected him more; nearly losing Billana to a confrontation with trolls, fighting side by side with her against orcs, discovering that she is more well known to the elves of Rivendell than he had believed, finding out that she is _not of age_ , or hearing her tell them of the horror that her aunt had tried to inflict upon her and the consequences of it. It is a lot to process for such a short time frame. Fili doesn't appear to be handling it any better, though his brother has always been capable of tamping down on his anger until there is an appropriate time to deal with the source.

Kili has _never_ been good at that, in fact he would quite happily fly to the Shire _now_ and set fire to the place himself. He had been told that hobbits are a quiet, shy and peaceful people. Obviously those who hold _that_ impression have never seen what hobbits are capable of doing to their _own_ when they find something about them to dislike. Billana is openly sobbing against his brother, and it makes something stir deep inside him to see her hurting like this, even as he acknowledges that she obviously has far more trust in them both than he believes they deserve. They have done nothing to truly earn it from her after all. Still, this trust in her moment of great vulnerability makes something dark and fierce within him rear its head and a glance at Fili shows that his brother feels it too.

That any of it happened at all is bad enough. Kili has begun to accept, if not fully understand, that his friendship with Billana is a deep and powerful thing that has its roots in the time before he was even truly aware of her identity. She had not done any of it deliberately, of course, having no idea that he was not truly a raven, but her tender care and gentleness has made a lasting impression even though he cannot remember much of it at all. He has known her only a couple of months, but already he cannot imagine his future without her there to talk to and laugh with. That in itself is strange, because as much as Kili enjoys the times he spends with others he has long resisted forming the kind of deep friendships outside of his kin that would lead to any of his many secrets being discovered. That Billana has managed to slip under his barriers without much effort is perplexing. That she would manage to do so with her past is even more so, especially as she has remained so sweet and giving instead of giving in to the bitterness and despair that must dog her every step under the circumstances.

To discover that she has experienced _so much_ when she isn't of age is another blow entirely. Especially when he considers some of his own actions towards her. The stolen kiss being one of them, sneaking into her room when she had been bathing being another. Still, she curls up against his brother and relaxes when she feels him lie behind her, as though they are a place of safety and not threat. It baffles him that she can trust them so much.

"Balin told me that hobbits come of age at thirty-three," Fili says when Billana has fallen asleep between them.

Kili stares at his brother in rising horror. By their standards she is practically a child still. If they come of age so young, he thinks, then how long do they live? He knows that most Men are lucky to reach roughly sixty, but they also come of age that much younger. Would that mean that she only has, perhaps, another sixty or seventy years before passing from the world, if this quest or her own people do not do the job first. He stares at her sleeping form, peaceful in his brother's arms, and thinks of all she has already suffered. Kili didn't leave Ered Luin until he was nearly sixty, and even then he was either in the form of a raven or with his brother and a guard while working the caravans. He knows that there is suffering in the world, he sees a measure of it in the mountains where the ground is hard and poor for farming and the mines ancient and damaged by the great wars of ages passed. He sees even more of it outside the mountains in the settlements of Men, has heard stories about the injuries and illnesses that Fili has encountered among them when word gets out that the dwarves have a healer. Little wonder, then, that Fili has kept such tight control over himself while listening to Billana's tale. It makes Kili wonder how many times he has heard similar tales before.

"When will she be of age?" Kili asks.

"About three months," Fili says, "according to the elf at least."

Three months, Kili thinks, is not all that long. They will definitely be at Erebor by then and yet, somehow, he isn't all that sure he wants her anywhere near the mountain at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a bit of a wrestling match. I suspect that the next one will be as well, although I might be able to mesh it and the one that follows together. Chapter 6 of this one might disappear in the next couple of weeks. I'm debating writing Nori's relationship with Dwalin as a side fic to the rest of this. Why not? It isn't like this whole universe isn't spawning ideas left and right (Jimiel has already put two alternatives to this whole thing in mind)


	8. Confrontation in the Boarding House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The discussion with Alfrid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it goes without saying (even though I'm going to) that I absolutely do not agree with any of the shit Alfrid spouts. At all.

"Do Thorin and her father know that you're looking for her?" Kili asks, keeping his voice deliberately mild and carefully stamping on the urge to hit the Man who kicks Billana away as she passes.

"Of course," Alfrid sneers, "who else do you think told us which room to go to?"

Claiming that is a mistake, Kili knows, because it shows just how little they know or understand dwarves. Balin would _never_ have given permission for this Man to come for his daughter in the middle of the night, and he certainly wouldn't have told them which room was hers. The Men might not care for their daughters, but dwarves treasure their children regardless of gender and would never simply hand one over alone, of age or not. Something more is at play here, and given what he has seen and heard with the caravans Kili has a feeling it is something that would have ended very poorly for Billana.

"Odd," Kili shrugs, "if they were expecting you I would have thought they would wait here with her, not send you to her chamber in the night." The Man flushes, though Kili can't quite tell if it is anger or embarrassment, and he _hate_ _s_ having to look up at people when talking to them. "You can see how I would find that a bit concerning." Actually, he hopes they can see why he is going to take the dagger he keeps hidden up his sleeve and plunge it into the oily little man's neck, and Kili usually abhors the idea of killing anyone unarmed.

"Well, if your king and her father don't have any objections I don't see what it is to you," Alfrid replies. "The Master simply wishes for the pleasure of her company."

"Something which I expressly refused," Balin says from the door. Thorin is next to him, his face almost white with fury. "As you well know."

"The Master only wished me to extend the invitation to her personally," Alfrid says quickly.

"You intended to kidnap her from her bed," Kili accuses. "I only realised they had come because I heard their boots overhead, Thorin." He continues. "Billana went up a while ago."

"Aye, lad," Balin agrees, "she had come in with me for the night and we heard the same noise. I came to investigate. She's with your brother." Kili nods, happy to know that Billana is safe and will not be here to witness whatever happens next.

"As I recall, your Master was pushing for a political betrothal," Thorin observes and Kili bristles. "I also recall that we told him it was impossible."

"We felt she should be given the option," Alfrid spreads his hands. "I am merely the messenger, you understand."

"She would have refused it," Kili snarls.

"And what would you know of it?" Comes the response. "The girl may have seen the necessity of it more clearly than _you_. And any good daughter would do as her father requires." The dark way he says it makes Kili's mind shudder away from the implications of what the Master or one of his lackeys might have attempted. He well knows how tiny his hobbit is, he knows the care he and his brother still take even though she insists that they will not break her.

"My daughter is already courting," Balin hisses, "and any who would _dare_ try to take her choice from her would meet a slow death at the end of my blade, if she didn't tear their throat out first."

"It is always their choice to give up that which is of most worth in a woman," Alfrid smirks, "if they allow themselves to be caught in a place alone and without protection of their brother, husband or father the fault is obvious." Kili's temper snaps.

It is, perhaps, a wonder that he hasn't lost it before now. Just the thought that they have deliberately waited until the Company had all seemed to retire would have been enough had Kili not wanted to play for time. The Men with Alfrid seem to realise before the oily little Man that they have made a potentially fatal error in judgement by following these orders, no matter who they are from. Kili's blow lands, unfortunately without a blade, in Alfrid's stomach, knocking the air out of him and making the Man fall to his knees gasping and with his face turning an interesting shade of red.

"Kili!" Thorin admonishes. "The right of defence is not yours."

"Not _yet,"_ Kili hisses. "But with Balin's permission I would claim it all the same."

"That is no longer my decision to make," Balin's voice is deceptively calm, but he gives Kili an approving nod. "Billana is of age, it is up to her whether she defends her own honour or asks it of one of you." He glares at Alfrid. "Given that you're courting, however, I don't think she would object to it." He looks at Thorin. "I take it this means we'll be departing as soon as the bridge opens?"

"I think it best," Thorin nods. "And I think it equally important that these three remain as our guests until after we have departed, it would not do for the Master to discover that his plot has failed. I would hate for him to learn just how deadly even a small party of dwarves can be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have given Kili a knife. A big one. Blunted. I need a shower. Or I just need to immerse myself in boiling water and bleach. I feel disgusting having written that vile little turd's words.....
> 
> And I know, I've skipped a lot of cut scenes to get to this one, I'll probably rearrange them later, but this one wouldn't shut up and I need to maths

**Author's Note:**

> This would have led to me writing a very different fic had I taken this path. It also locks me into something I'm not settled on just yet. I haven't written it off entirely but I'm not settled on it. I also spent much of my original read through wondering why I wrote this or where it all came from, the mouth Kili has on him. I made myself blush. Then I went with it, then I wrote the alternative that actually made it into the main fic and here we are.


End file.
